Quote:
Originally Posted by photoLith
More like torn down and remain a vacant lot for 30 years but who knows. Mayor Parker and the city actually quite serious this time in rebuilding downtown. Downtown needs like 25,000 residents or more to actually have retail work. Houston Pavilions is largely vacant and Books A Million just closed last week too. The only real retail that will be left for now in downtown that's open past 5 is Forever 21.
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This is sad, but hardly unique for large Downtown Dept. stores in but a very small handful of U.S. cities. We went through the same thing a few years back when we lost our old, grand Macy's.
The building still stands however, and is beautiful. It's evolved into an event space, a collection of a couple of bars and restaurants off of the main Peachtree Street entrance and a data center on the upper floors. It's now known as 200 Peachtree.
http://www.200peachtree.com/
We were lucky in that when they built Atlantic Station two miles north in Midtown (replacing an old steel mill), Dillard's took a bet and built their SE flagship as an anchor there. It was dicey for the first few years with constant rumors they wouldn't make it, but they are now doing very well. I see the same thing happening in Houston.
You guys are a larger market than Atlanta, with a very healthy economy and a booming intown residential scene. I predict that if not Downtown, there will be a Downtown adjacent large Dept. store eventually. I would frankly be surprised if this isn't the case sooner rather than later.